Update, 2:14 p.m.: The fate of Larry Uhlmeyer in the assault case underway in Palmyra is now in the hands of the jury.
Update:
The man shot by a former sheriff's deputy who claims he was only defending himself and his wife was ruled incompetent to testify on Tuesday. James Rudd, whose wounds left him paralyzed from the neck down, had been expected to tell his side of the story before the seven-man, five-woman jury. Judge Robert M. Clayton II issued the ruling just before the state rested its case this morning. The defense put one witness on the stand, the defendant's wife, before taking a break. Brent Engel is covering the trial for the Courier-Post.
Monday's story:
A man shot by a former sheriff’s deputy who claims he was only defending himself and his wife is expected to take the witness stand.
James Rudd, whose wounds left him paralyzed from the neck down, is expected to tell his side of the story before the seven-man, five-woman jury went testimony resumes at 8 this morning.
Fifty-four-year-old Larry Uhlmeyer is charged with one count of first-degree assault and three counts of second-degree assault in the Sept. 30, 2007, shooting of Rudd, who was 26 at the time. The charges are felonies.
The incident took place during a confrontation in the garage of Uhlmeyer’s home along Highway 6 near the 18-Wheeler truck stop at Taylor.
Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Redington and defense attorney Wayne Schoeneberg both declined to comment after Monday’s first day of testimony.
Rudd previously claimed he went to the Uhlmeyer house after he became stranded at the 18-Wheeler. When he got no answer after knocking, Rudd went to the detached garage and fell asleep in the passenger seat of a car.
Rudd said he was awakened the next morning by the screams of Uhlmeyer’s wife, Patricia.
Uhlmeyer told authorities that when he confronted Rudd in the garage, Rudd came threateningly toward him and that he shot the intruder. Rudd claimed he left the garage and was walking back toward the road when he heard the first shot.
Testimony from six witnesses Monday included a doctor who said Rudd’s wounds made Uhlmeyer’s account of what happened implausible and a gun expert who said his tests showed Uhlmeyer may not have been as close to Rudd when he fired as he told investigators.
Dr. Arden Reynolds, a Quincy Medical Group neurosurgeon, worked on Rudd and estimated he had handled more than 200 gunshot cases.
Reynolds testified that a bullet that entered near Rudd’s right shoulder went underneath the collarbone and hit the victim’s spinal cord.
“When it hit the spine, it … effectively cut his spinal cord,” said Reynolds, who added the bullet was still lodged in Rudd’s back.
Redington asked Reynolds what kind of damage the bullet would have caused.
“Immediately, he would not have been able to walk,” Reynolds said. “If he were not already on the ground, he would have fallen.”
However, Reynolds later said the mental damage caused by Rudd’s wounds would make his testimony unreliable.
“It’s not a question of truth,” Reynolds said. “It’s a question of whether he remembers.”
Todd Garrison, a Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab supervisor and gun expert, examined Rudd’s shirt.
Garrison testified three holes in the garment were consistent with gunshots, but he did not find powder or residue, meaning that the shots were probably fired from at least 48 inches away.
However, Garrison admitted “a lot of factors could have come into play” that would have influenced the dispersion of the powder.
In other testimony, Marion County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher Richard Koch recalled that Uhlmeyer seemed “angry” and “excited,” and had a “panic in his voice” when he called at 7:07 the morning of the incident. Koch asked if a deputy should be sent.
“Larry replied, ‘Yes, you need to get a patrolman up here before I shoot the b------,’” Koch testified.
Koch said Uhlmeyer called back 13 minutes later to say he had indeed shot the intruder. Brad Robertson, a sheriff’s department investigator who was a deputy at the time, found Rudd in the yard 10 feet to 15 feet from the garage.
In an earlier deposition, Rudd claimed he had walked almost three-quarters of the way back toward Highway 6 before he was shot.
Robertson previously said no evidence was found that Rudd had walked toward the road and no evidence was found that he had been dragged from near the highway back to where he was found.
In earlier testimony, Missouri Highway Patrol investigator Sgt. Troy Linneman said that three shell casings were found, including one inside the garage.
He also said there was no blood found in the garage, but spots of it were on the sidewalk and in the yard.
Questions still surround the number of shots fired. In previous testimony, Uhlmeyer said he remembered firing two bullets and may have fired a third as the intruder left the garage.
A neighbor, John Jacobs, testified Monday that he heard four shots in a pattern that went “pow … pow, pow, pow.”
Garrison testified that four bullets were left when he examined the nine-round clip sent to him by investigators.
Schoeneberg has not said if Uhlmeyer will testify. If convicted, Uhlmeyer could get 10 years to more than 30 years in prison. A verdict could be handed down as early as today.
